


On the Properties of Quantified Space

by watchlaughlove



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Romance/Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2016-01-22
Packaged: 2018-05-15 14:30:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5788867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watchlaughlove/pseuds/watchlaughlove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kelladry Lavellan is a student majoring in Dalish Architecture. Solas is the Folklore Professor who wants more for her.</p><p>College AU featuring a sarcastic and temperamental, yet brilliant, Rogue Lavellan. Sera is her best friend, Dorian is her thesis advisor, and Cassandra just thinks she needs help. Shenanigans and Drama ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On the Properties of Quantified Space

  _Click click. Click click. Click click._

Kelladry Lavellan's pen went on and off in the back of the room. It echoed against the back of the hall, shaped like an amphitheater. The class dragged on. She either already knew the material, or it went far off into tangents that she didn't need to know. She glanced at the clock. _Unbelievable. It's only been half an hour!_

She matched the click of her pen to the ticking of the second hand. A stern voice cuts through her haze.

"Miss Lavellan, if you could not so blatantly display your lack of interest in my classroom, I think all present would appreciate it."

And what a voice it was. Solas Harel led his class with a firm hand and even firmer bicep, at least according to the vast majority of the female student population. His open level lecture, The Origins and Evolution of Dalish Myth, was a highly attended course at the University of Orlais. His name echoed throughout campus, followed closely by sighs of pleasure. One couldn't say the name  _Solas_ without a nearby co-ed fluttering and swooning. Kel found the entire hype bothersome.

"Of course Professor!" She said with her brightest eyes, cheeriest voice, and most fake smile, an aside ridicule of the fatuous humans around her. Professor Harel eyed her suspiciously, steel-blue gaze cutting into her. Despite it, he left her be. For a moment Kel felt...off balance. As the lone Dalish elf in most classes she was used to being singled out. His attention though, was unusual. While the professor might have been popular with the student body, they were not popular with him.

 _Stop thinking on it_. Her brain whispered to her. _There are more important things to consider. Architecture problem sets wait for no man._ Kel dismissed her unease and allowed her brain to fall back into the miasma of calculations and physics that was her homework for the next class, her thesis work in architectural design.

 _It truly is beautiful_ , Kel considered to herself. A perfect blend of maths and art. Ancient Dalish architecture was one of the few circumstances in which she truly held awe for her ancestors. The towering arches and sweeping vistas of the Dalish ruins made her breath catch. The first time her clan had travelled through the Dales, her imagination was set on fire. To a child whose entire life was made of wood, cloth, and halla, the remains of the stone monoliths that stood before her then were a revelation. It was in that moment that the Dalish clans lost her, and she began to plan to leave for the human cities. There she could study and learn all about these standing structures. Then she had grown up, and come to understand the reality of life for a young elf alone in human lands. It was not a pleasant thought.

Luckily, the Keeper of Clan Lavellan had decided that the Dalish needed to keep a closer eye on the human city. There were rumbles of mage rebellion in Orlais, and she had been sent to Val Royeaux to investigate. With the resources of the Dalish clans behind her, Kel had wormed her way into the University of Orlais; attached as it was to the Val Royeaux Circle of Magi, she could keep an eye on things and do her duty to her clan while laying the groundwork for making her dream a reality.

_But how to counteract the force of weight on an arch of that height? Was it in the material? Granite infused with something...maybe glitterdust? It would explain the unusual sheen –_

The Chantry's cloister bell rang out the hour and cut off her thoughts. Books were sloppily piled into her bag as Kel hurriedly collected herself. She'd almost made it out the door when that voice cut through her yet again.

"Miss Lavellan, a word please?" Her shoulders slumped, but a smile was quickly pasted on her face as she turned around and made her way to the front table.

"Professor. May I assist you in some way?" She knew she sounded a bit too impertinent when a frown flit across the handsome face before her.

"You are Dalish are you not?" _Right to the point then. Seems like he's going to let the tone slide._

Kelladry sighed inside, but readied herself for the coming conversation. Yes, she was Dalish, isn't that rare, isn't that exciting and different? Our culture must seem so odd to you! Are you settling in well my dear? She'd had to sit through such poorly-feigned concern from others before. Her conversation with Head Enchanter Vivienne had gone particularly badly. The woman was a politician, NOT a teacher.

"Indeed I am." _No more. Let him take from that what he will._

"And yet you show little to no interest in one of the only classes offered by the university that concerns your own culture. Why is that?"

 _Well, that is slightly different._ "I may be Dalish, but that doesn't mean I worship the Creators. I find the entire religious system to be outdated and defunct. Much of Dalish behavior is preserved entirely for tradition's sake, not necessity. While I may know many of the basic stories passed down from my hahren, the intricacies of old and winding tales should not need to be meaningful to me simply due to the circumstances of my birth."

To her surprise, he did not even blink at her condemnation of his subject. "How interesting to hear from one raised in the culture of Elvhen such as yourself. Tell me, dirthas elvhen?"

She snorted: "Dirthan telom. Those of us not trained as Keepers or storytellers only learn the dregs. I'm sure the clan would consider me woefully out of practice even such."

He seemed confused: "Do you not consider yourself Dalish then? You seem quite derisive toward your own people."

"Of course I am Dalish!" Kel protested, angry. "I simply do not accept that things have to stay exactly as they are and always have been. The world is changing around us; we must change with it." She hesitated, momentarily shy before charging ahead. "Are you not Dalish? After all, it is your subject."

The Professor hummed lightly to himself for a moment. "Such a forward thinking view for one of the People. It is pleasing to hear. No, I am not Dalish myself. I believe you would have noticed some trace of ink on my face if I was?" He arched a brow at her.

"You never know. Despite what we tell the rest of the world, one can be Dalish without their vallaslin. It's not for me to judge."

He smirked. "A wise bit of forethought. I suppose if I had been one of the People I'd have been grievously offended if you implied otherwise."

Kel frowned to herself. _Was that an insult?_

He shook his head. "Never mind, I believe I'm keeping you too long. Just tell me: why did you join my class if you intended to spend the entire time skulking in the back row?"

At that Kelladry scowled down toward her shuffling feet. The tips of her ears reddened.

"Marethari said it was required for my specialized degree." She muttered.

Professor Harel chuckled to himself; Marethari was a terrible busybody. As an ex-Keeper turned teacher, she was always sending young elves his way in an attempt to get them interested in the ancient ways. No mind the fact that he believed in them even less than his potential students.

"Ah, now I see. Well I hope you endeavor to learn something from this class, even if you don't believe in it. She must believe you have potential in the subject."

He peered into her eyes, but Kel felt more like he was examining her soul. It was, again, unnerving. He did not seem to look as much at you as into you.

"I'm sure she does," Kel prevaricated. She startled as she looked at the clock. "I apologize professor, but I have to run. I'll be late to my next class."

"Of course, Miss Lavellan. Thank you for entertaining my queries." The lithe older man looked back toward the papers on his desk as he dismissed her from the room.

At the door, Kel hesitated.

"We don't hold much with titles among the Dalish professor. Miss sounds overly formal and unnecessary to me. Just Lavellan. Please."

"Very well, Lavellan. I suppose my given name would do as well then. Just Solas." The corner of his lips twitched into a half smile and Kel felt the bottom of her stomach drop to her toes.

 _Oh dear. Now I know why they all swoon._ She snorted to herself and shook her head – no flash of a feeling would disturb her equilibrium. She smiled at him as she turned for the door.

"Thanks for the chat then, Solas". She swept out the door, her bag lumpy with textbooks and riddled with equipment half fallen out of pockets dragging despondently behind.

_Fascinating._

**Author's Note:**

> Any and all elvhen comes from Project Elvhen!


End file.
